Trump can protect California avocado farmers and take a bite out of Mexican cartels, too
President Donald Trump has made Make America Healthy Again a national priority, with avocados at the center of his administration's new food pyramid. But America cannot promote real, healthy food while allowing the American farmers who grow it to disappear.
That is exactly what is happening to California's roughly 3,000 avocado growers, who are being undercut by a surge of Mexican imports from regions where cartel activity extorts growers, seizes land and controls communities. Trump has committed to making America healthy again, putting American interests first and stopping cartel criminal activity at our border. Prioritizing California's avocado farmers does all three.
California’s avocado growers, many of them small, multigenerational family farms, meet some of the world’s most rigorous labor, environmental and production standards. Yet during their March-through-October harvest season, they face surges of imported fruit from Mexico that disrupt the U.S. market, destroy the market price and threaten their future.
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We know there is a meaningful difference in quality as well. California Hass avocados are left on the tree until they reach peak maturity, allowing them to develop a richer oil content that creates a creamier texture, a deeper buttery flavor and a more vibrant fruit profile.
They are prized for their consistency, making them the preferred choice for everything from guacamole to sandwiches and salads. California avocados are not simply another commodity, they are among the finest avocados grown anywhere in the world. When American consumers choose California-grown fruit, they are choosing superior quality while supporting American farmers and American agriculture.
This year, avocado shipments from Mexico from January through mid-July surged 32% compared to the same period in 2025, flooding the U.S. market and harming our California growers. While we continue working to reduce the regulatory burdens facing California farmers, imported avocados dumped into the market at artificially low prices undermine fair competition and threaten the long-term viability of domestic production.
America cannot allow a foreign source to dominate a critical food category while U.S.-grown crops progressively disappear. Total dependency on foreign production in agriculture damages farming communities, compromises food security and ultimately harms consumers.
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The surge in Mexican avocados implicate another major policy concern. Since day one of his second term, Trump has aggressively committed himself to stopping cartel criminal activity that crosses our border. Mexican avocado production belongs in that conversation.
The Treasury Department has documented that cartels operating in Mexico’s avocado-producing regions extort growers, demand payments tied to harvesting and exporting, seize land and use violence to control communities.
On Aug. 5, 2026, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued an alert suspending all U.S. government activities due to a threat against American interests in the Mexican state of Michoacán, which produces the vast majority of Mexico's avocados exported to the United States. The U.S. resumed those activities on Aug. 13. This is the latest confirmation that cartels exercise significant control over the region and its avocado industry.
Many Mexican growers are victims of these organizations, not partners. But a system that ignores cartel coercion can still reward the conditions the cartels exploit. American farmers should not be put at risk by unchecked import surges from regions gripped by cartel exploitation and market distortions.
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While the administration continues to combat the larger cartel threat, California growers urgently need relief from these market dislocations. The answer is a carefully designed seasonal tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on Mexican avocados. A TRQ allows a reasonable volume of imports to enter duty-free, then applies a higher tariff only after imports exceed a defined quota.
This measured safeguard, which can be achieved during the ongoing USMCA review, can preserve year-round avocado supplies while giving California growers a fair chance to compete in their own market during harvest season.
USDA oversight and inspector security should accompany the TRQ because fair trade flows and a food supply safe from disease and infestation are both imperative. If Mexico is unable or unwilling to provide sufficient security for USDA inspectors to perform needed orchard checks, imports should be suspended until the security issues are resolved and the inspections completed.
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Farmers need a market where following American rules does not become a competitive disadvantage. Our country, our restaurants, our consumers and our families deserve U.S.-grown production and dependable, high-quality ingredients. A balanced TRQ helps deliver that.
America First and Make America Healthy Again come together when we support California farms and their success. Helping American agriculture, like our local avocado growers, strengthens our food supply, sustains local communities and helps put healthy food on more American tables.
Andrew Gruel is the founder of Slapfish restaurant, a Huntington Beach City councilman and chef/owner of Calico Fish House in Huntington Beach, California.